Westside Tutoring & Testing Services: The ACT is Upon Us and You’re Ready!

You know the test inside and out. You only need apply what you’ve learned to earn a superior score. That being said, you are already a winner in my book. You have worked so hard and I am very proud of you and of all the work you’ve done. You have come such a long way in a short period of time!

This is your ACT Action Plan…a Roadmap to a 36!

If you apply the things you’ve learned, slow down,let that big brain of yours do its work, and relax, you will achieve your goals…all of them!

1) Supplies: Take an adequate number of pencils and erasers.

2)Calculator: Make sure your batteries are fresh!

3) Eat a decent complex carb dinner the night before and a good breakfast with complex carbs Saturday morning (that doesn’t include Captain Crunch or Trix!). This is an extremely important point…don’t skip breakfast and take a light snack and a beverage with you (e.g., Gatorade, Powerade, etc.).

4) More Supplies: Take a 6″ ruler with you for the Science Reasoning section.

5) Throughout the ACT: Do NOT leave anything blank. With 5 minutes to go, if you haven’t finished, fill in all the remaining blanks. Then, with the time you have left, begin to work on the questions one-by-one, changing any answers that are incorrect.

6) Throughout the ACT: Process of Elimination (POE) – Use it actively and aggressively. Get rid of the answer choices that are just plain wrong and limit your choices. Then choose wisely grasshopper!

8) English: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it! Is this sentence grammatically correct? Again, does it fit the context? Is it accurate?

9) English: Does this sentence flow? Do I need a pause (comma) here?

10) English: Remember the Down and Dirty Semicolon Rule: Do these phrases stand on their own?

11) English: Remember the rules for the proper use of a colon: a) List (to include, the following, etc.); b) Punctuation used to make an announcement; c) The colon only follows an independent clause and introduces a word, phrase, sentence, or group of sentences (Note: you aren’t likely to see the “group of sentences” condition on the ACT – but watch out!).

12) English: Watch for a hyphenated clause! It must either end with another hyphen, as in the body of a sentence, or close the sentence. If it doesn’t satisfy one of these two conditions on the ACT it is probably incorrect (like 99.999% of the time).

13) English: Is this answer choice concise? The most concise, grammatically correct answer is always the best!

14) Critical Reading and Science Reasoning: Ask yourself, “Do I know this?” Based on what you have read or appears in a passage, study, description, experiment, table, figure, or graph, can I support this answer choice?

Example: Given that all the choices are true_______________. Identify what they are asking for in the question! Underline it and watch out for traps. Be critical! Am I reading into this my own likes, dislikes, emotions, etc. or can I support this based on the information in the passage?

16) Critical Reading and Science Reasoning: Get active in searching out the answers based on the techniques you’ve learned. Can you identify the exact phrase, word-for-word or paraphrased, that answers this question? If not, keep looking!

17) Critical Reading: Have you read the questions and identified the answers, in context? Have you underlined and/or made notes in order to set your schema? Did you identify the answers based on the reading, even before going to the answer choices? You should have an answer choice prepared prior to looking at the answer choices offered! Does yours match theirs? Are you close? Keep looking!

18) English and Critical Reading: Pay close attention to context and chronology when reading. Does this follow from what I have read so far?

19) Mathematics: Plug in! Plug in! Plug in! We are doing ACT Mathematics and the only answer that matters is the correct one. So, when you have to, wing it!

20) Mathematics: Watch for transposition errors. Check to make sure you have the correct sign (i.e., positive or negative). Don’t give away points because you’ve made a “simple mistake!”

23) Mathematics: Remember your 30:60:90 and 45:45:45 rules, theorems, basic mathematical rules (e.g., lowest common denominator, similar triangles, area of circle, area of square, area of triangle, area of trapezoid, perimeter of circle, perimeter of square and rectangle, and so on).

24) Mathematics: Break down your figures into smaller, more manageable figures and work from there. Use the same technique for functions: Work from the outside-in.

30) Mathematics:a)Circle questions begin by drawing a (360 degree) circle; b) Straight lines are 180 degrees and the points on the line are collinear; c) Triangles are 180 degrees; d)Squares, rectangles, parallelograms, and rombi are 360 degrees.

31) Mathematics: Proportionality calls for cross-multiplication in almost every instance on the ACT.

33) Science Reasoning: The Science Reasoning section is a READING section! The answers are there. Whether it is in text, tables, figures, graphs, charts, or whatever…the answers are there! Take your time, identify the answer, and score big on this section!

34) Science Reasoning: Pay close attention to italicized words. They are usually important and are often definitions you must know.

35) Science Reasoning: Identify the X & Y axis and the dependent and independent variables. Additionally, watch for the differences in experiments (e.g., differences in temperature, mass, velocity, volume, etc.). The experiments will usually have a constant variable in one experiment, while varying the same in the next. Identify the control and the experimental design (i.e., What are they manipulating? What are they trying to accomplish? etc.).

37) Science Reasoning: Use your 6″ ruler and draw your answers out based on the questions asked and answer choices offered. Mark it up! If you can see it, chances are very good that you will get the right answer!

38) Science Reasoning: Don’t get bogged down in the minutiae. Meaning, don’t get bogged down in a section with a lot of dense material. Most material is extraneous and completely unnecessary.

39) Science Reasoning: You have one goal: 40/40 on the Science Reasoning section!

40) Writing: To master the ACT Writing section all you need to create is a solid first draft. ACT graders are not looking for the Great American Novel, they are looking for a fundamentally sound draft.

41) Writing: Begin by stating your position based on the prompt. The easiest way to create an opening sentence is by restating the prompt in the form of a statement, either for or against.

42) Writing: Pick two or three good examples that will support your position. The examples can be from reading, coursework, personal experience, or some combination of the three.

43) Writing: The opening paragraph should accomplish these three things: a) State your thesis, your argument (see #40); b) Introduce your examples (see #41); c) Then, write a transitional sentence to close your introductory paragraph and move into the body of your writing sample and the first paragraph (Note: this paragraph should be built around your first example).

44) Writing: The third paragraph must support your second example and the fourth paragraph must support your third example…if you have one.

45) Writing: You do not need three examples to score a 5 or 6 on the Writing section, but it helps. If you only have two examples, make sure they are good ones and that they are well written. Sometimes, less is more.

46) Writing: The conclusion must restate the thesis statement and the examples. You need to accomplish three things when writing your ACT Writing sample: a) Tell them what you are going to say; b) Say it; c) Tell them what you said.

47) Writing: Remember, all you need is a solid first draft. You are not expected, nor do you have time to write, the Great American Novel! The ACT graders are looking for a solid opening sentence and paragraph, two or three examples in the body of the work, and a conclusion that restates your position as fact. Do that and you will earn a perfect or near-perfect score.

48) Writing: The ACT Writing section is often scored by part-time graders who are scoring (up to) several hundred exams in a day. They are going to give your writing sample 3-5 minutes, tops. They do not have time for a poorly written sample. So make sure you write a position statement (for or against) that is grammatically correct, as free from spelling errors as possible, and easy to follow. Do not stray off topic or restate the same sentence over and over again. Redundancies will poison your writing sample and your score will plummet. Keep your sample clean, direct, and to the point. Again, less is often more. A writing sample that has a solid position statement (thesis), two great examples that are supported in the body of your work, and a conclusion that supports your position will earn a better score than a writing sample that is long, rambling, and ends up at a destination that is somewhere other than where you started from.

49) Mathematics: Formulas (below)

So, you are ready…so relax and enjoy the experience. Seriously! You can always take the exam again, so don’t put a lot of pressure on yourself. Remember to take a deep breath in between pages, passages, and sections. Deep breathing now and then will help you relax and stay sharp.

Again, good luck! I hope you will let me know if this helped you focus your thoughts on exam day. I wish you all the best and may all your effort pay off in an ACT Composite Score of 36!

Test Anxiety? Well, Our ACT and SAT Prep Students Rock the House!

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Whether this is your first time taking the ACT or SAT (many of our students do, in fact, take both more than once), or your second, third, fourth, or seventh* time through…the Westside Tutoring and Testing Services ACT/SAT Prep Course will help you attain your ultimate Goal Score!

Similar test prep (entrance, proficiency, and placement) course structures are available for the GRE, LSAT, ASVAB, AP, CLEP, GMAT, etc.

All Westside Tutoring and Testing Servicestest prep course and tutoring programs are one-on-one. We do not believe in offering anything less than the very best in individualised, one-on-one instruction. The classroom approach to test prep is, in our view, a complete and utter failure. Sadly, it is what most students are subjected to and it is why we see most of our students after they have taken the ACT, SAT, GRE, or LSAT two, three, four, and five times.

It is fundamentally impossible to reach 30 to 40 students effectively and simultaneously with a prepared (read: canned) script that fails to offer much, if any, wiggle room for questions and interaction.

Westside Tutoring and Testing Services’ ACT and SAT Prep Coursestudents succeed while others fail, relatively speaking, because every WTTS test prep program is designed with our student’s needs in mind. Our primary concern is one student….the student we are working with (i.e., tutoring, coaching, mentoring, teaching, etc.) at that specific moment in time. We do not have to teach to the class average. Or, worse yet, we do not have to teach to the lowest common denominator.

Every WTTS test prep course is fluid, measured and adjusted constantly in order to assist just one individual…the client seated across from the instructor!

When all is said and done, we are interested in little else at Westside Tutoring and Testing Service…given the proper structure and guidance, of course!

Ask us for answers to the following questions when we meet for our first, free, 90 minute consultation and assessment:

Why doctoral (Ph.D.) level instruction for all of our students?

Why do our all of our students require and receive individualized, one-on-one instruction?

Why do all of our students require and receive a program built, and constantly monitored and adjusted just for them…and for no one else?

Why are our tutoring sessions never more than 90 minutes in length (with the unfortunate exception being practice exams)?

Why do we have to teach our students how to take the ACT and/or SAT?

Why is more time spent on test taking strategy, and less on academics (although both receive more than their due)?

Why do many of our students remain with us for months and, in some instances, years beyond their initial contact?

Why does Westside Tutoring and Testing Services specialize in tutoring, teaching, coaching, and mentoring students challenged by and diagnosed with ADD or ADHD?

Why do we also have a program for students labeled specifically as Gifted…and often in Gifted programs on taking Gifted courses?

Please know that WTTS also has a very substantial and thriving tutoring practice filled with students not fighting through the label labyrinth…at least not yet! Labeling can be difficult and destructive…it is seldom productive; and yet, it is entirely human!

Once again, Westside Tutoring and Testing Services offers a myriad of standardized entrance, proficiency, and placement exam prep courses for students in almost every age bracket and at virtually every academic level.

Nursing Students (university based, hospital based, and others) – NCLEX-PN or the NCLEX-RN

Adults in their thirties and forties (non-traditional students) – Math and/or English proficiency exams prior to returning to school after years away

Over the past 5 years we have assisted well over 150 students, all 1-on-1, prepare for that most important of days!

Incredibly, the above-mentioned list doesn’t begin to touch the absolute number of requests we receive for test prep and academic assistance (i.e., tutoring, mentoring, coaching, etc.) annually from, as previously mentioned, students of all ages and at every level.

Westside Tutoring and Testing Services is very careful to take on only those students (and parents when appropriate – because it is a joint venture) who:

Really need our help – either test prep or academic tutoring (this trumps all else – the latter over the former) – this is #1, always

Are committed to doing (supporting in order to accomplish) whatever may be required in order to achieve the student’s goals

Agree, along with Westside Tutoring and Testing Services, to a specific goal, timeframe, and framework for its accomplishment (completion is program dependent)

Finally, the student’s goal becomes WTTS’ goal and we are well on their way to “Making it so!”

If, after sorting through this article/blog post/promotional piece, you would like to ask us a few more questions, and perhaps discuss your Goal Score?

Or perhaps, more simply, your goals?

Please give us a call today

440-821-7018

Serving Northeast and North Central Ohio for Over 30 Years!

*We are in awe of this student, an incredibly bright and determined young man who, after taking several of the canned presentation and big name test prep courses (for a lot more money!), and falling just short of his Goal Score7 times, he came to us. Incredibly, after completing the WTTS 8 Week Intensive Program for the required proficiency examination in his area of concentration (3 sessions weekly, 1-on-1 for 90 minutes), he blew away his previous scores and achieved his Goal Score, and more. This was, without a doubt, one of the highest points in my 30+ years of teaching, tutoring, coaching, and mentoring young people. In a lifetime filled with high points, we were all so happy for him because he went all-in and, in the process, learned so much about himself, what he is capable of, and what he can do with the proper mindset…and the right assistance (i.e., coach, mentor, teacher, tutor, etc.). And he’d also become part of the WTTS family!

**Your success is our success and we won’t stop working until you (your son or daughter) have achieved the desired outcome. The Goal Scoreis just one measure, of course; and naturally, your son or daughters’ measure, including the Goal Score, will be agreed upon in advance…after the free consultation and assessment is completed. Call today! 440-821-7018